Jamie Parker/Bryan County Now There is a board listing some of the class opportunities available at the Goodwill Job Connection at the front of the retail store in Richmond Hill as well as a box where interested people can confidentially leave their contact information.

Jamie Parker/Bryan County Now "Anything I feel that would help the community that they could probably get here for free and I have a teacher who will volunteer we will bring it,"siad LaDonna Cook, Goodwill's program coordinator for mission services in Richmond Hill.

Painted on the wall of the staircase landing leading to the Job Connection located upstairs of the Goodwill retail store in Richmond Hill are the words “A hand up, not a hand out.”

Giving hands up is just what LaDonna Cook who operates the Job Connection would like to be doing. But before she can do that, she needs to spread the word about the facility.

“I am just trying to get people in here,” Cook, who took over the center earlier this year, said. “When I first got here I said ‘where are all the people? I know somebody here needs something. Where are they?’ I want to get individuals into the classes or at least make them aware of them.”

Through the Job Connection, Goodwill offers free classes for members of the community — anything from computer skills, to basic nutrition, to basic nursing. And while many of many of the classes are based in helping people find work, they are not exclusive to that. Some are geared to help those already employed but perhaps under employed advance their careers; other teach basic skills valuable to just about anyone.

In July, Cook hopes to start, among other classes, a dress for success course with a Mary Kay representative teaching the do’s and don’t’s of makeup.

“I have another lady who wants to do what to wear and not to wear because at our first job fair we had here I did a dress for success display with examples of things you should wear to work like business suits; and casual clothes when you don’t wear to show people how to make a good first impression when they go for a job,” she said.

Also available are teachers from Troy State University who instruct advanced classes in resume writing and interviewing skills and techniques.

“We also have a speech pathologist who wants to come; she also wants to do non-verbal behaviors,” she said.

Additionally Cook is hopeful of beginning an English as a second language class locally. “There is an interest in that. We have those classes in other places but I want to bring them here,” she said.

But before any of the classes can really get rolling they need students.

So the jump start the enrollment Cook is reaching out.

“We have a board downstairs for the individuals who come in the store because nobody even knows this (Job Connection) exists,” she said. “I want to do boards and signs. I am working with people out in the community to tell them what we are doing here so they can come in.”

Additionally there is a box at the front of the retail store where interested people can confidentially leave their contact information and Cook will contact them regarding class opportunities.

From the boards, the box, and the outreach efforts into the community Cook hopes to generated a list of who is interested in classes.

“I want a list because of all these individuals who come to me and say they want classes. We have to have at least five or more people for the teacher to say they are going to come,” she said. “I want people to sign up and say they will come.”

Once she has that list Cook can create a curriculum, arrange for teachers and needed materials, and schedule the classes.

Most previous classes at the center have been scheduled for mornings.

“I do have some people (teachers) who can come in the afternoon, we haven’t done any late classes as of yet,” Cook said.

But if it becomes evident classes need to be scheduled for afternoons, evenings or weekend she will try to make that happen.

“We even have a list that people can let us know what they would like to take. Anything I feel that would help the community that they could probably get here for free and I have a teacher who will volunteer we will bring it,” Cook added.

ALSO AT THE GOODWILL JOB CONNECTION

• Beyond Jobs: Designed to help women with children who are looking for connections for job opportunities, training and resources. “We’ll do anything that will get them from point A to point B to get that job; whether it is helping them find day care, we have a financial literacy class to teach them to budget, to do their taxes and basic money management,” Cook said.

• Volunteer opportunities.

• Job listing service: Employers can list job openings with Goodwill and Cook and her staff will try to match the openings with applicants.

• Certified Customer Representative course: Planned but not underway yet, this free, 15-credit college course would be offered through Savannah Tech just as GED classes at the Goodwill training center are. It will require a high school diploma or GED, a four-month commitment from the student to participate. The course will teach service industry business environment skills, customer contact skills, computer skills for customer serviced and other things valuable to many job seekers. Upon completion students receive certificate indication successful completion of the classes they can take to job interviews.

For more information about services available at the Goodwill Job Center, call 912-373-8432.